adorable cover, right? it looks like some cute save-the-date for some portlandia hipsters. it just so darn cute with its ampersand made with headphones. with all of this cuteness, i had to pick up with this book. i had seen it on amazon and it was even a daily deal but i forgot to buy it, so ended up checking it out from the library, which turned out to be the right choice. although i loved the cover, i didn't absolutely love the book.
though in eleanor & park's defense, since it is a young adult novel, 16 year old me would have been all about it. i think i mean, a clockwork orange was my favorite book at the time, though the notebook left me in tears, so maybe i would have believed in eleanor and park's love.
but i will admit that both 30 year old me and 16 year old me had a total book crush on park. through he was kind of right about people not finding asians sexy, i do like me the halfbreeds and so i would have definitely found park's half korean/half irishness sexy. and i love boys in eyeliner so that was really hot. but my book crush is not based on lust, how sweet he was! how he let eleanor read his comics over his shoulder on the bus, or how he saved up all his batteries for her to use, even how he found eleanor sexy in her gym clothes (seriously who can pull off sexy in gym clothes?!?). and he made her mixed tapes!!!! especially the one with love will tear us apart on repeat!!! so sweet!!! and while i loved park, i was not so sure about eleanor.
i was just as judgemental about eleanor as park's mom, why was he with that "weird white girl"?!?!?! eleanor didn't make sense to me. i mean i understand that she was a good kid in a bad situation. but i just did not get the attraction. i mean her outfits didn't even seem cute in that alt-80's kind of way, i mean the ties and ribbons yes but not the golf shoes! eleanor should have been fashioned after molly ringwald in pretty in pink (she was poor too and dressed eccentric). i also personally could not get passed her personal hygiene, i mean didn't park notice that she didn't brush her teeth or that her hair smelled like flea and tick soap?!?!? i mean these are things one would notice right? i was grossed out by eleanor and i am not even that high maintenance.
random digression but as i was readig was wondering if the author was eleanor and this was like an exteme version ofna high school romance. when i looked at her pic on the backflap, i could see the resemblence between she and eleanor:
but looks aside, she didn't seem to bring anything to the plate. i mean park was so sweet and eleanor was always negative nancy. and i know i know she had a tough life but in my eyes she was not a diamond in the rough, just rough. i mean the only good about her was what park brought to her, but then i i guess that is true love. it makes you a better person.
and onto their love, i hate to be negative as always but some of their convos were too much for me. all of their talk was sweet and romantic but put in the context of high schoolers made me roll my eyes. though i am sure teenage me would have been lapping it up. and one last grievance, if they were so in love why did it take eleanor forever to write back to park? i mean he saved her life, how could you not find the means to write back?
all in all, a sweet read. not a must read but more like i have the time, this cover is cute, let me check it out kind of read.
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